1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to pharmaceutical compositions and medical treatments. In particular, this disclosure relates to the use of prostaglandin EP4 antagonists in said compositions and treatments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prostaglandin EP4 antagonists are believed in the art to have a number of useful medicinal properties. WO0149661 discloses compounds which “strongly bind to PGE2 receptors (in particular, subtype EP4), so that the [compounds] are expected to be useful in the prevention and/or treatment of immunopathy, asthma, bone dysplasia, nerve cellular death, lung failure, hepatopathy, acute hepatitis, nephritis, renal failure, hypertension, myocardial ischemia, systemic inflammatory reaction syndrome, septicemia, hemophagocytosis syndrome, macrophage activation syndrome, Still disease, Kawasaki disease, burn, systemic granuloma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn disease, hypercytokinemia at dialysis, multiple organ failure, shock, sleep disorder, platelet aggregation and so on.” WO0149661 also discloses that ” compounds which can bind on EP4 subtype receptor strongly are expected to be useful for the prevention and/or treatment of immunological diseases (autoimmune diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, Sjoegren's syndrome, chronic rheumarthrosis and systemic lupus erythematosus etc., and rejection after organ transplantation etc.), asthma, abnormal bone formation, neuronal cell death, lung failure, liver damage, acute hepatitis, nephritis, renal insufficiency, hypertension, myocardiac ischemia, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, hemophagous syndrome, macrophage activation syndrome, Still's disease, Kawasaki disease, burn, systemic granulomatosis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, hypercytokinemia at dialysis, multiple organ failure, and shock etc. Further, it is thought that EP4 subtype receptor relates to sleeping disorder and blood platelet aggregation, so such compounds are expected to be useful for the prevention and/or treatment of these diseases.”
WO0015608 discloses “because of binding strongly to PGE2 receptors (in particular, subtype EP4), the compounds [disclosed in the reference] are useful in preventing and/or treating immunologic diseases (autoimmune diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), rejection reactions following organ transplantation, etc.), asthma, bone dysplasia, nerve cell death, lung failure, liver failure, etc. Also, these compounds participate in sleep disorder and platelet agglutination and, therefore, are useful in treating diseases relating thereto.” WO0015608 also discloses “compounds of the present invention of formula (I) bind strongly on subtype EP4 and therefore are useful for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of immune diseases (autoimmune diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, Sjoegren's syndrome, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc.), post-transplantation graft rejection, etc.), asthma, abnormal bone formation, neurocyte death, pulmopathy, hepatopathy, acute hepatitis, nephritis, renal insuffiency, hypertension, myocardial ischemia, systemic inflammatory syndrome, pain induced by ambustion, sepsis, hemophagocytosis syndrome, macrophage activation syndrome, Still's diseases, Kawasaki diseases, burn, systemic granuloma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's diseases, hypercytokinemia at dialysis, multiple organ failure, shock, etc. They are also related with sleeping disorders and platelet coagulations, and therefore they are thought to be applicable to these diseases.”
In citing the foregoing references, and other references cited herein, applications make no admission as to whether any of said references constitutes prior art. Rather, the determination of what constitutes prior art is a legal decision made on the basis of the dates said references were made available to the public, the authors or inventors of said references, and the effective filing date of the disclosure made herein.